Sing Me to Sleep
by Rose's.wings
Summary: Across vastly different cultures, peoples, and even different planets, some things will always remain the same. And for children growing up in wartime, no matter what their species, lullabies are absolutely essential.
1. Chapter 1: Arcee's Lullaby

So...not much to say except that this idea came to me when the family and I were driving home from spring break. Basic idea - frightened younglings + Aria = lullabies. That's the whole idea. Will be updated at random intervals whenever I find the drive to write more of these and, like all my Transformers fics, is related to my longer stories _I Lost A World! _and _The Long Road Home_. Just so you know.

First up is Arcee and Taylor Swift's 'Safe & Sound'. I recommend you go listen to it at least once, because after all, songs don't translate 100% into written form, but you know, that's totally up to you.

Enjoy!

...

Sing Me to Sleep

1 – Arcee's Lullaby – 1

It was late and the younglings were huddled together in the corridor. Outside and above them, they could all hear the dull thuds and distant booms of the enemy as Megatron tried to crack open the city like an egg, all so he could lay his hands on the last of the younglings.

There were seven of them, and they were all afraid. It was why they had left the warm security of their separate beds and clustered together out in the hall, because in all honesty they couldn't stand to be alone when they felt like this. It wasn't that they were unused to hearing the sounds of battle – sometimes they even tried to be brave when they heard it, try to pretend they were not afraid of anything – but right now they couldn't bring themselves to even try. It was too late in the lunar cycle to try and be brave. They were all scared and they all knew it. Might as well try to find some comfort in the fact that they were all scared of the same thing.

But even when they were all scared together they felt alone, horribly alone, and if it wasn't for their Jie Mei they would have given in to the urge to just sit there and cry ages ago.

Jie Mei's real name was Aria, but they never called her that if they could help it, and despite the fact that she was a completely different species, she was their older sister. She loved them all so much, and right then she wished there was something she could do to make them feel safe.

Another missile hit the roof far above them, shaking down vorns old dust that had probably been there since the building had been constructed, Aria thought.

_"That was probably a Seeker,"_ she thought to herself, her inner voice sounding small and far off even in her head.

Next to her, Arcee shivered and stared with wide optics up at the ceiling like the rest of them. She was the only femme out of the seven and seeing her so terrified broke Aria's heart over and over again. She felt the worst for Arcee because where the six mechlings only had one or two bonds, depending on if they had a brother or not along with their guardian, Arcee had four. Her two sisters, Elita-One and Chromia, Chromia's sparkmate Ironhide, and Elita's beloved, Optimus Prime.

_"Well, I guess that technically makes it three and a half." _Aria amended, but then sighed anyway, _"Although it doesn't really matter since all three and a half of them are out in the melee," _Aria thought grimly. _"At least Skids and Mudflap, or Fastlane and Cloudraker,"_ her eyes flicked to each set of bonded brothers huddled nearby, _"still have each other here with them. Only one bond is out in that-"_ she tried to think of a suitable word for what was happening outside, but in the end was too tired, and so just shook her head instead.

Another shell hit the roof, closer this time, and all eight of them jumped slightly at the sudden boom.

Arcee whimpered and huddled deeper into the tumble of boys sitting around her.

Aria swallowed past the lump in her throat and scooted closer to the little pink femmeling. "Hey Mei Mei," she whispered to the little femmeling as soothingly as she could with her throat so tight, "it's okay Mei Mei, it's okay." Aria told her, running a gentle hand down her exposed cheek. The pink youngling was lying on her side, staring at her sister with big, watery optics. Wordlessly, she held out her small hands to Aria.

The human girl gave her a small smile, hoping it would give Arcee some kind of comfort. Not needing to ask what she meant, Aria scooted closer still until she was sitting up against the femmeling's pink frame.

"There Mei Mei," Aria whispered, "is that better?"

Another explosion detonated above their heads and Arcee tightened her grip around Aria, making her older sister gasp as she suddenly found it difficult to breathe with Arcee clutching at her.

"It's alright Mei Mei," Aria managed to gasp out, "they can't get us in here, remember?"

Arcee shifted her head so that she could pin her big blue optics on her Jie Mei, and then nodded slowly as if she was no longer completely sure of that. Either way though she still remembered to loosen her grip on Aria before she passed out from oxygen depravation.

"There ya go Mei Mei," Aria murmured to her as she remembered how to breathe, "I've got you."

Arcee didn't answer, just twisted around and put her head in Aria's lap, curling up on her side to do so. Aria was just glad she was still small enough to fit otherwise the feeling in her legs would have suffered for the next week.

"Sing." The femmeling squeaked.

Aria looked down at the sweet optics blinking up at her, somewhat surprised.

"But I can't sing Mei Mei." She told her, startled.

Another concussive blast shook the ceiling, making all of them, Aria included, flinch and whimper.

"Please." Arcee said again.

Aria looked around to see the other younglings watching her expectantly. She tried to hold back her disappointment, but the tiniest sigh of resignation still escaped. She hated singing. She wasn't good at it. From what Sera had used to say she sounded like a cat getting a bath with its tail caught in a moving fan. Not very encouraging.

_"Why do they think I listen to classical music all the time? There aren't any words! And humming is a whole lot safer anyway."_

But what with the bombs exploding overhead and the frightened look in the younglings' eyes, Aria just couldn't say no. Not to _her_ younglings.

"Alright, alright," Aria murmured as she thought of a song. In the end she picked the first one she could remember half the words of off the top of her head.

"Stay awake, don't rest your head-" she stared to sing.

"No!" Arcee suddenly cut her off, "Sing _my_ song!"

"Your song?" Aria asked in confusion. "Which song is your song?"

"You know," Arcee said as if it was supposed to be obvious, "_my _song. The one you gave me the last time everyone had to," more coolant tears pooling in her optics, "had to leave to fight da Septiconnies." She ended on a half-sparked mumble.

Aria looked up in thought just in time to get more shaken off dust in her eyes. She blinked quickly, making her eyes water to wash the dust out.

A soft touch at her back made her twist around in her seat to see Bumblebee watching her with wide optics. He whirred a worried question at her in the Cybertronian version of baby talk.

Aria quickly swiped at her eyes with the back of one hand and sniffed to keep her nose from running. "I'm fine 'Bee. It's alright." She told him too quickly.

He clicked uncertainly at her, but didn't take his small hand away from her shoulder, Aria noted with relief.

She took a deep breath, her eyes still stinging, but not from the dust. "Now, eh, what was I doing again?" She asked Arcee with a watery smile.

The only femmeling blinked up at her once. "Song." She told her decisively.

A smile flickered briefly on Aria's face. "Right," she said then quickly tried to remember any of the words.

"Da du dum da dum," she half mumbled, half hummed the first few bars of the chorus to herself to see if she could remember it. Then she shot Arcee a quick look to see if she'd changed her mind. She hadn't.

"Alright, alright," Aria mumbled again, "uh, 'Just close your eyes, the sun is going down, you'll be al-"

"No!" Arcee stopped her again, more insistently then before as she tugged at the hem of Aria's shirt, "the whole song!"

Aria sighed, but the half formed delighted smile still appeared on her face. "Demanding little femmeling aren't you?" She murmured to her as she ran a soothing hand across Arcee's forehead.

Arcee blinked at her again and squeaked.

Aria sighed again and tried to relax. _"They don't care if I'm good or not. As long as it makes them feel better."_ The thought drifted through her mind as she tried to remember all the words to the Taylor Swift song Arcee seemed to have adopted. She already had the tune though, so fortunately the words came a bit easier then before. She remembered them all soon enough.

The human girl found a smile for her youngling sister. "'I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go'," she started singing for Arcee in a slightly off key voice. The younglings didn't seem to notice though. "'When all those shadows almost killed your light. I remember you said, 'Don't leave me here alone,' but all that's dead and gone and passed to-ni-i-ight'."

Aria quickly swallowed to try and keep her voice from cracking at the end of the next line, although it didn't work and the first word of the chorus came out as more of a breath.

"'Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright. No one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe. And. Sah~ahound'."

She clumsily hummed the musical interlude between the chorus and the second verse, but Arcee had quieted down and most of the tears had faded from her optics.

_"It's working," _Aria thought with a heavy feeling of relief, so she decided to keep going.

"'Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire. The war outside our door keeps raging on. Hold on, to this, lul-la-by, even when the music's go~one',"

Aria's throat closed and she had to swallow hard to get the next, broken word out.

"Gone."

Arcee curled up closer to her Jie Mei and clung tighter to her only slightly bigger frame. Aria just continued to stroke the top of Arcee's small head, like her own mom had done when Aria was little. It had always made her feel better. Around her she felt the other younglings curl up closer to her back, seeking the same comfort from her.

Aria swallowed down her tears and kept going, wanting so badly to give them what they needed.

"'J-just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll-"

She literally couldn't speak for a moment. She covered her mouth with the back of the same hand she had used to wipe her eyes, faintly tasting the salt water as her vision started to blur around the edges. She felt herself falling apart, but she didn't dare do it in front of the younglings. Not now.

_"Not now."_ She mentally chanted as she squeezed her eyes shut. _"Not now. Not now. Not now."_

Somehow she managed to pull herself together as the high pitched scream of missiles cutting through the air before they made contact with their target reached her ears through the thick architectures around them. She even somehow found the shattered pieces of a smile laying around somewhere for Arcee when she leaned over to be closer to her.

"'You'll be alright'," Aria whispered from where she leaned her head against Arcee's, not trusting her voice to go any louder than that. "'Come morning light, you and I'll be safe. And. Sound."

She hummed the nonsense sounds that made up most of the song as she ran a hand down Arcee's cheek, calming her. She probably hummed too many times but eventually she noticed Arcee's optics slowly shuttering as she managed to drift off into recharge.

"'Just close your eyes'," Aria mumbled one more time for good measure as she felt the mechlings drifting off too, "'you'll be alright. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe. And. Sound."

Her voice cracked near the end, but it didn't disturb the younglings out of their fitful recharge.

_"Thank goodness for that."_ She thought as she swallowed past the lump in her throat.

Another explosion, this one stronger then before, rocked the ceiling. Aria's breath caught in her chest as she felt the floor tremble underneath her. She sat perfectly still, staring wide-eyed up at the dark ceiling as the tremors buzzed, then faded.

Mercifully the younglings only twitched, Arcee giving a small whine from where she was still resting in Aria's lap, before falling silent again.

Aria breathed out a shaky sigh of relief. _"It's a miracle they can sleep at all." _She murmured to herself.

She was no less amazed when, after all the explosions and wall shuddering tremors that nearly stopped her heart altogether, they still hadn't woken up when the battle finally ended.

She hardly noticed the quiet that descended afterwards. The aftershocks were still echoing in her ears. It wasn't until she heard the slightly panicked stomp of feet coming from down the hall that she even noticed the eerie silence outside.

Aria looked up just in time to see an alarmed Ironhide come into view from a cross hallway farther down. He came to a quick stop when he saw Aria and the younglings huddled halfway down the hallway.

"Prime," he murmured into his comm. unit, "I've found them."

Aria dimly noticed that the gruff mech was smoking slightly as he came towards them. She quickly cleaned her face, rubbing away the itchy salt her tears had left on her face. Arcee twitched and gave a small whine when Aria let go of her, but quieted again when Aria wrapped her arms around her again.

"Hush Mei Mei," she whispered, "sh…"

Ironhide crouched down in front of the huddled group, the bright light of his optics making Aria blink in the dark hallway.

"They alright?" He asked in his gruff voice.

Aria nodded, not trusting herself to speak quiet yet. She cleared her throat before saying, "Yeah, just scared." She told him.

Ironhide nodded slowly, giving the recharging younglings a concerned look some bots would be surprised to see on his face. He scrubbed at his faceplates with a low growl as Aria watched with tired eyes. A moment later he remembered to shake himself out of it.

"Hey, Arcee," the imposing black mech rumbled as he reached down and gently shook the pink femmeling.

Arcee twitched again, curling up in on herself automatically before opening her optics the slightest bit. She rolled over in Aria's lap and blinked up at Ironhide, not finding him even remotely scary, no matter what anyone else thought.

"Ionhide?" She mumbled up at him.

He grinned lopsidedly at the little bot. "Yep, now come on femmeling, let's get you back to bed."

Arcee just held her arms out to him, silently telling him that if she was going anywhere it was being carried by someone else.

Ironhide managed to chuckle at her, even after the fierce battle that had just taken place. "Spoiled femmeling." He mumbled, but reached down and scooped her up nonetheless.

Aria felt herself smile, even just a little, as the little femme burrowed close to the big mech's black armor with a little sleepy moan. Seeing the careful way the gruff mech held the little femmeling was beyond adorable. Even after such a nasty night, it still made Aria want to grin and giggle.

She bit her lip to keep from embarrassing Ironhide instead, although he saw her anyway.

"What?" The weapons specialist asked a little too loudly, dragging Arcee back from the brink of falling back into recharge.

"Ionhiiiide," she whined as she repositioned her head in the crook of Ironhide's neck, "you're too loud…"

"Uh, sorry kid." Ironhide told her, trying to look at her and failing since she was now right under his chin.

"Arcee!"

Aria felt Bumblebee jerk awake next to her as Chromia's shout echoed down the hall. The four of them looked down the hallway, Bumblebee and Arcee and bit blearily, as the silver and blue femme raced up the hall, Elita not far behind.

As soon as she saw them, Arcee reached out for the older femmes, Ironhide holding her out as soon as the blue femme was close enough.

Chromia swooped her tiny sister up and held her close, needing to know she was alright. As soon as she had, Aria heard a distressed, high pitched wail as all of Arcee's worry leaked out as crying.

Aria watched as the two older sisters enveloped Arcee between them, letting her cry herself out, Ironhide standing silently near Chromia's free side. The three adults waited there as one by one, the other guardians appeared to collect their respective charges.

Optimus was the last to appear, after he had seen to the aftereffects of the battle. Arcee had calmed down by then, sniffling and hiccupping every once in a while as Chromia rocked her lightly. The red and blue mech put a large, comforting hand on her head, nearly hiding it from sight, before carefully taking Bumblebee from Elita-One.

The yellow younglings chirped in sleepy indignation at being disturbed, but quieted as soon Optimus brought him close.

Below them, Aria managed to get her numb and tingling legs underneath her. She couldn't actually _go _anywhere yet as the blood suddenly rushed back into her lower limbs, but she was just happy she could still stand.

"Ow, owowowowow," she muttered as she slowly shook one leg then the other.

"Are you alright Ariah?" Optimus asked.

"Ow," Aria looked up at him, "yeah, ow, I'm fi-ow," she squeaked, "fine."

Optimus raised an optic ridge at her, but before he could say anything else, a little voice gave a small, indignant, "Hey!"

Aria looked up to see Arcee looking back at her from over Chromia's shoulder.

"What?" Aria asked.

Arcee frowned at her, pouting slightly before reaching an arm out to Aria. "Say goodnight Jie Mei!" She ordered imperiously.

Aria smiled at her. "As soon as I can feel my legs again Mei Mei," she mumbled before taking an experimental step forward. She just as quickly stopped.

"…owww…" she squeaked, her voice going up at the end. "I thinked I liked it better when I couldn't feel them." She muttered to herself.

Arcee waited.

Defeated by the femmeling's sheer trust that she would get her goodnight kiss, Aria held her breath and shook the rest of the tingles out of her legs without anymore pained squeakings.

"Alright Mei Mei," Aria said when Chromia leaned down so she could reach her youngest sister. Aria gave the femmeling a big hug and a loud kiss on the cheek before doing the same for Bumblebee.

"There we go." Aria said when she was done. "All ready for recharge-eep!" Aria yelped as small hands abruptly reached out and snagged her around the middle and held her close to her pink and white chassis.

Aria looked up as Arcee hugged her, somewhat surprised. Arcee was sweet, but when she got tired she didn't really like people touching her all that much.

"Thank you Jie Mei." Aria heard the femmeling whisper.

Aria's face softened into a smile as she twisted around in Arcee's grip to wrap her in a hug of her own. "Always Mei Mei." She whispered back before planting another loud kiss on Arcee's cheek, making her giggle.

"Luv you Mei Mei," she told her, "now night night, sleep tight."

Arcee giggled again, the adults chuckling at the pair above their heads. "Night night Jie Mei."

"Alright then Arcee, you've got your hugs and your kisses and now," Chromia said as she straightened up, adjusting her sister against her side, "it's time for bed."

Arcee was too tired even to argue and just rested her head against Chromia's silver shoulder guard.

Aria watched as Chromia, Elita, and Optimus took the younglings back towards their rooms. Ironhide hung back with her, but she didn't notice until she heard him chuckle over her head.

"I can't tell who's worse," he said to her, "you or the youngens."

Aria slanted a look up at him. She thought about reminding him that he was wrapped around the younglings' digits, especially Arcee's, just as much as she was so what did that make him? But decided against it.

Instead she smiled sweetly up at him, and held her arms up to him. "Pwease Ionhide?"

Ironhide looked down at her, blinking his optics at her questioningly, then vented what sounded like a deep suffering sigh. "So this is where Arcee gets it from." He mumbled, but reached down to pick up the small human anyway.

"There," he said as he put her on his shoulder, "just don't wiggle too much. I'm not catchin' you if ya fall."

"Fair 'nuff." Aria told him. And then before he could forbid it, Aria leaned into the gruff black mech's neck and gave a sleep sigh.

She could hear Ironhide's optics roll when he spoke, his deep voice making her chest buzz. "Yeesh, you're worse then Arcee."

Aria closed her eyes and laughed tiredly. "Just where did you think she got all those cute tricks anyway?" Aria asked him with a smile.

Ironhide just chuckled as he followed the other bots down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2: Never to Part

*Happy sigh* Aw, I finished it. *Squeak!* I knew this one would be incredibly cute, and it is! I just didn't think it'd be so deep, or dark...but don't worry, it's sweet.

Now let's see, who reviewed? It feels like ages since I've looked at this page, so much has just sorta happened since then over here (on the other side of the world! XD) But mucho thanks go to Vivian Hale (Hi there! XD Sorry I haven't written in awhile, I'm trying to work on it really. Stupid procrastination gene...), MummyRules, Suzumehime, annebellelennox, and MissMary. Your reviews were sweet and amazingly appreciated! ::Hearts!:: And I'm really glad you all loved the song. After listening to it awhile it just started to remind of Arcee rather then the movie it was for. Hee hee, go figure. ;) But thank you! Thank you all!

So if you've read ahead (stinkers ;p) you've probably guessed already what the song is, but I'll let you find out who it's for on your own. n_n Love ya guys! Woot, third update in three days! New record for me! :D And if you haven't found my new short story _The Inbetween _I highly recommend it. But then, of course I do. I wrote it.

Thanks for putting up with my self promotion guys! Enjoy the sweetness of _Sing Me to Sleep_ chapter two!

~^..^~

Sing Me to Sleep

2 – Never to Part – 2

...

"Baby mine, don't you cry.

Baby mine, dry your eyes.

Hold your head close to my heart, never to part,

Baby of mine."

~^..^~

Aria was tired. It was early morning, probably only about twenty cycles until the sun came up over Cybertron's eastern rim, but she couldn't sleep. She felt like she would never be able to sleep again.

The little human stopped her aimless walking down the empty corridors of the Hall of Records and leaned against an open window frame nearby. Thousands of feet below her was a small atrium set in the middle of four different buildings. It wasn't much to look at, but it was better then the windows facing the outer edges of the city.

As soon as she'd stopped moving, Aria's eyelids started to sink over her tired eyes. They were so heavy that she couldn't even slow them down, much less stop them. Not that she wanted to. She wanted to sleep so bad…

Something flopped over in her chest, snapping her back awake. She looked around her in something close to panic as the foreign feeling made her heart pound.

Only it wasn't her heart. She didn't _have _a heart anymore. Not really…

Aria hesitantly put a hand over where her heart should have been, but instead of softly thumping muscle she felt the warmth of her new spark instead.

It was eerie, she thought, to feel that instead of her heart, the one that was _supposed _to be there.

If you wanted to get technical, she still had half of her heart. It had melded with the eight bits of sparks she had been given by her, eh…donors. They had done it to save her after the other half of her heart had been, well, vaporized into oblivion by the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron himself.

She didn't regret that they had saved her, just like she didn't regret getting in the line of fire to save her _di di_, Bumblebee, who had been Megatron's original target. It was just…it just felt…_weird_. She couldn't even begin to describe how.

She was connected to them now, that much she had understood when Ratchet had tried to explain what this meant to her. It had become even clearer when the cranky old medic had whacked Hound upside the head for trying to leave the medbay – _again_ – and Aria suddenly felt both the mechasurgeon's irritation and Hound's frustration at not being able to see how Aria was doing with his own two optics.

She had just about jumped out of her skin. She sort of remembered just sitting there for a long minute with her head in her hands, but according to Wheeljack she had had some sort of panic attack. Apparently her fast breathing had sorta freaked him out a bit.

_"I don't have a heart anymore. Humans are supposed to have hearts. They can't live without them, but I'm still here. So if I don't have a heart, then I'm not human, and if I'm not human anymore, then what the heck am I?"_

The same question had kept her up every night since Ratchet had grudgingly let her out of his medbay and, consequently, his sight.

At first she had thought that not only had half of her heart been stolen from her, but she had stolen pieces of her friends' in return. She had just about started crying right then and there, but Wheeljack had reassured her that that wasn't what had happened. Well, that was sort of what had happened, only according to the rest of them she hadn't stolen anything since she had been out cold and on the brink of never waking up ever again when this had happened. This had been _their_ choice, and that had made her feel a little better.

What had helped even more was when Ratchet, who after careful observation to make sure she wasn't about to backslide on them, had told her with no small amount of surprise that the bits of spark she had been given had merged together, meaning they were no longer eight different pieces that had been sewn together. They had become something new. Something that completely belonged to Aria and Aria alone.

And hearing Ratchet talk about it that was either nothing short of a miracle or madness. Aria knew he hadn't made up his mind about which one yet.

She had started to smile the tiniest bit when she thought of the grumpy old medic, but it faded quickly enough. She didn't just _think_ he hadn't made up his mind, she _knew_, and that knowing disturbed her along with everything else.

Not knowing what else to do, Aria sighed and leaned against the window again, hand pressed lightly over her new spark-heart, as if she was afraid she might break it.

_"Break it," _she thought with a grim laugh, _"it's a glowing, life-giving, light in my chest. I don't think there's a way I _can_ break it."_

That same, small flopping sensation, like her stomach turning over suddenly but higher up in her chest, appeared again, making Aria look down for the first time. Of course all she saw was the faint white light of her spark-heart through her camisole, her only piece of earth clothing that was still intact.

"Right," Aria muttered to herself, remembering what Hound had told her earlier concerning sparks and bonds, which apparently was what she now had with the eight bots that had saved her. "You got to look inside, or something like that…"

It sounded more like the words of an overly upbeat yoga teacher then anything serious, but what else was there to do? Hound certainly knew more about this then she did, and she knew he wouldn't just lie to her so…

She closed her eyes and did her best to look inward. She wasn't sure if she was doing it right, but she did get the feeling that the flopping was coming from Bluestreak, the oldest of the younglings she had looked after for years.

Aria rolled her eyes at the young mech, but the tiny smile was back, pulling at the far corners of her mouth. The blue bot was recharging and she knew from experience that nothing short of an all out attack would wake him up.

_"Gosh Blue' why'd you have to be such a restless sleeper?"_ Aria asked him in her head as Bluestreak twisted over in his sleep again, unconsciously pulling at their bond as his subconscious brought up memories of her.

Much to her surprise a sleepy half thought came back down the line. _"Aria? Your chicken-bots are too loud. Tell them to be quiet…"_

Aria was too shocked to even laugh at the mech's sleep talking nonsense. How had he done that? How had she heard him?

"What in the world-?" Aria half mumbled. How had he done that? Why could she hear him when he was halfway across the city from her? Her brain froze up as she tried to process this new fact and failed utterly. Distantly she was aware that she had stopped breathing as well.

She was suddenly flooded with other feelings, most of them worried for her sake as her panic started to leak down her new connections.

_"Aria!"_

_ "What have you done to yourself now girl?"_

_ "Aria? What's wrong?"_

_ "Geez kid I'm tryin' to sleep here."_

_ "Wow. Way to be supportive Ironhide. She's about to have a meltdown and you're worried about recharge?"_

_ "Ignore them Aria. Where are you? I'll come and get you."_

The six mechs and femmes that were awake kept babbling questions at her, wanting to know what was wrong, was she alright, trying to tell her that it was okay.

_"S-STOP!" _Aria heard herself shout.

The voices instantly stopped.

Aria pulled in a ragged breath at the silence. Through the different lines she could feel each bot's response to her shout. Wheeljack and Ariel were taken aback. Hound was too, but she got the feeling he understood too. He had been cooped up with her in the medbay for an orn and it had given them a lot of time to talk. Or cry in Aria's case. Aria noticed he was also the first to back off, although not before giving her something that felt like a hug, only ten times warmer. Aria leaned into the hug, but didn't hold tight when the comforting mech drew back.

Ironhide squinted an optic at her – sort of, since he wasn't actually there – but didn't say anything as he rolled over and fell back into recharge. Not before his sparkmate Chromia whacked him for his callous words earlier, chasing a half panicked laugh out of Aria.

Ratchet was the last to leave. For a minute Aria thought he wasn't going to go at all. He seemed to stare at her, long and hard, as Aria felt little breaths run shallowly through her chest.

"Please Ratchet," she begged quietly, unsure if he could hear her when she spoke out loud, "I just need to be alone for awhile. Please." She squeezed her eyes shut, a few tears rolling down her cheeks without her notice.

The gruff old medic watched her another long moment and Aria felt his concern for her where it sat, barely concealed, under his usual irritable demeanor.

_"If you pass out again I will keep you in the medbay for a stellar cycle you understand?" _He told her sharply.

Aria nodded gratefully as she felt Ratchet's presence fade away.

For a long moment she crouched there, holding very still as she waited for the lingering emotional mayhem banging around her chest to subside. She wasn't even aware she had been crying until her face started to itch.

She hurriedly scratched at her face, not so much because she was afraid someone would see her in this state, but more because she had to feel something through the haze enveloping her brain, even if it did leave a few welts on her face.

Suddenly it didn't matter. Suddenly she felt too much. She was thrown to the floor as an outside force slammed into her, knocking her flat on her back. For a minute she couldn't even breathe as the force of the blow rolled over her, threatening to squash her flatter then a pancake whose insides had been sucked out by a vacuum. She couldn't _breathe_ as feelings of panic and fear and loss swamped her already worn down senses.

And then she caught a hint of the familiar in the madness enveloping her, almost like seeing someone she knew from the corner of her eye or hearing them laugh off in the distance.

She would know this laugh anywhere, even if a thousand look a-likes were around him, she would be able to find the real one by that bouncing, boyish laughter.

Except he wasn't laughing now. He was screaming. A terrified, terrifying shriek that made Aria cold to her core. She couldn't stand knowing that her brother was so scared.

She started running, hardly even aware of it. All she knew was that she had to get to him, she had to find, had to let him know he was still safe, that he didn't have to be afraid anymore.

She was going so fast the door hardly had enough time to recognize her presence and she nearly ran full force into it. She managed to slow just enough to let its hard surface slide past her, letting into her _di di's _room.

Hearing him crying with her ears was almost as bad as feeling it through their new connection. Hearing all that fear and guilt in his voice just tore her broken heart into another thousand pieces.

"Bumblebee!" Aria shouted as she scrambled up onto the youngling sized bed. "'Bee what is it? What's wrong?"

The little yellow bot hardly recognized she was there, but eventually Aria was able to make out a few familiar words in the crying.

"Jie Mei!" 'Bee sobbed. "_Jie Mei!_"

Aria ran over the blankets and tucked herself against her brother's too warm body. He was so small by Cybertron's standards, but he was just big enough that Aria could hardly wrap her arms around him anymore, so she pressed her face to the side of his and held tight to his gray hand instead.

"I'm right here," she told him, not needing to shout since she was right next to his audio. "I'm right here Di Di, it' okay. It's okay I _promise_." She tried to sound reassuring, but she thought there might have been too much panic in her voice for that. Bumblebee had always been her brave little mech. What could have him so terrified now?

"Jie Mei I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He sobbed now, but Aria noticed that he wasn't screaming so loud now.

Aria ran a comforting hand down the side of his face, making him look at her as she dried his optics with a corner of the blanket. "For what Di Di? What's wrong?" She asked again.

Bumblebee suddenly quieted, but Aria wasn't reassured by that. He was still shaking so hard that his side plating was rattling against her shins. Distantly she knew she would have bruises in the morning.

A series of hiccups made the little mechling jolt very few seconds as Aria waited patiently for Bumblebee to get himself under enough control that he could talk. She made soothing noises as she continued to gently dry his face. When he looked over at her, she tried to smile, but it always felt wrong. Fortunately he didn't look at her very much.

Finally Bumblebee squirmed a little, freeing one of his hands. He pointed at his sister's chest.

Aria suddenly went very still.

"I-it's ma-my f-f-fault." The mechling stuttered before breaking down again.

Aria felt something like ice water pour over her head. It slid down her spine and coiled into her stomach, making her legs go numb in the process.

"What?" Aria barely managed to squeak.

"I-it's my _fault_," Bumblebee said again, a bit clearer, "if I hadn't followed you, you wouldn'ta gotten hurt Jie Mei. It's _my_ fault you're sad now." He sniffed, more tears leaking down his round face.

Aria felt more like crying herself. "No Di Di! No!" She immediately cried. "You didn't-" she swallowed hard, "this isn't your fault."

But he didn't believe her. She could see it in his optics, and worse, she could feel it.

_"Well I wouldn't believe me either with that pathetic sounding defense." _A snarky voice in Aria's head told her. _"He probably thinks you're just trying to make him feel better and that you really _do_ blame him."_

_"But I don't!" _Aria told the voice. Then she mentally paused. _"Do I?"_

_"Well he does got a point," _the snark spoke up again, sounding rather uncaring about the whole ordeal, _"if he hadn't left the base and followed you guys, you wouldn't have had to go back and save him. You'd be home, with Sera. It's probably Christmas around this time too, if you added the time up right."_

Bumblebee didn't hear his sister's internal monologue over their bond – she kept her voices reigned in too tightly for him to pick up thoughts when she didn't want him to – but he did see her eyes narrow slightly as she thought, her eyebrows coming down seriously.

He knew it. He knew she was mad at him for getting her hurt. He had known it was all his fault!

He started to cry again. It was too much for the little bot.

His renewed weeping shut Aria's internal snark up and she looked up at her brother. He was one of six mechlings, but Bumblebee had a special place in her heart, even now – especially now. Out of all of the sparks she had found down in the Well of AllSparks all that time ago, he was the only she had had direct contact with before they'd gotten their first frames. Apparently there was some whole long explanation on why Cybertronians did _not_ touch pure sparks before they were sparklings – something about imprinting and caretakers and other things Ratchet had told her and Aria had forgotten – but Aria didn't really care. All she knew was that Bumblebee was _her_ Di Di and she loved him more then she could ever say and she couldn't – wouldn't – blame him for something that was _not his fault_.

Carefully, Aria put a hand on Bumblebee's cheek and turned him to look at her.

"'Bee," she said softly, "look at me 'Bee." Slowly he did so and she put her other hand on his other cheek, framing his face so that he couldn't look away from her.

"This," she said slowly, willing him to believe her, "is not. Your. Fault. The only thing you did wrong was leaving the base when you knew you shouldn't have." She told him, because it was true.

"But my getting hurt," she went on, "wasn't your fault. When I saw," she had to pause a second to move past the rock in her throat, "that he was going to hurt you, I couldn't _stand it_." She told him, feeling angry for the first time since she had woken up on Ratchet's table. It cleared the self-pitying mists in her head better then a cool breeze.

"I could never have lived with myself if you had, had," she had to swallow again, "died, and I hadn't done anything. I jumped," Aria said, her voice getting stronger, "because I love you 'Bee and I'm not about to let_ any_thing happen to you. And if it came down to it, I'd do it again."

And Bumblebee could tell she meant it.

"But," he tried to sort this out, "but then why are you so sad?" He asked her, sounding very confused.

With a sigh, Aria released her brother's face and settled back against the pillow, thinking through her tangle of emotions. Bumblebee noticed one of her hands was rubbing carefully against her new spark. Automatically he scooted closer to his Jie Mei, engine whirring softly.

"I think," Aria said slowly a moment later, "that I was just scared Di Di."

Bumblebee blinked at her. "Really?" He asked. From his tone of voice it was obvious he had never thought his Jie Mei _could_ be scared. Of anything.

Aria nodded as she continued to stare off in to the middle ground of 'Bee's dark room. "Yeah." She said quietly, as if this was making more sense to her the more she thought about it.

Bumblebee clicked slightly in confused thought. "But," he said, "_why_?" It was such a silly thing to be scared of. "It's only a spark. Now you're more like me Jie Mei!" He added excitedly.

But his older sister let go of a long sigh and ran a hand down the back of her head.

"To you," she told him, "it's normal to you. But humans aren't supposed to have sparks Di Di. We have hearts. And if I don't have just a heart anymore, then what am I?" She asked.

Bumblebee could feel the overflow of Aria's emotions. She was confused, and sad, and scared, just like she had said, but for the life of him Bumblebee just couldn't understand why.

He blinked baby blue optics at her.

"You're my Jie Mei Aria. You'll always be my Jie Mei."

Aria stared at Bumblebee so long, he thought something was wrong. Even their new bond was quiet.

But then she smiled at him. It wasn't a big smile, or very wide, but it was happy, and Bumblebee knew that it meant everything would be alright again.

Aria leaned over and rested her forehead against 'Bee's. "You're too sweet 'Bee. When did you get so smart?"

Bumblebee giggled, glad his sister was happy again. "I've _always _been smart." He told her, sounding like a youngling again.

He felt more then saw Aria grin. "Come here," she told him. They scooted closer together, Aria putting one arm behind Bumblebee's head so he could rest against her shoulder.

"Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine." Aria started to sing. She was slightly off key and her voice warbled on the notes that were too low, but to the little figure next to her, it was the most beautiful voice on the planet.

"Little one when you play, don't you mind what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine."

Aria carefully wiped the remaining tears on 'Bee's face when she got to the sparkle and shine. Bumblebee laughed a little. Jie Mei could be so dramatic at times. But that was okay. That was why she told the best stories in Iacon.

She hummed the interlude, making a better job of it then the words.

"If they knew sweet little you, they'd end up loving you too," Aria sang, "All those same people who scold you, what they'd give just for the right to hold you…"

She drew out the word longer then was strictly necessary, but 'Bee hardly noticed as she wrapped her arms around him in a sweet little hug, letting him relax into her arms.

"From your head to your toes, you're not much, goodness knows-"

Bumblebee almost took offense at that, but Aria was watching him so kindly that he stayed still.

"But you are so precious to me," she told him softly, "Cute as can be, baby of mine."

She continued to hum the refrain, running a gentle hand along the top of the little bot's head. He could feel himself drifting off into recharge, tired out from crying and feeling much better now that Aria had made things alright again.

He must have been on the edge of recharge when he remembered to mumble. "You can't sing very well Jie Mei."

He felt his sister laugh next to him. "That's what I've been trying to tell you guys for ages, but you never listen to me." She murmured softly.

Bumblebee snuggled closer to her, making himself more comfortable. "But we like your singing." He mumbled to her.

Aria laughed again, just a little. "Thanks Di Di."

He felt her kiss his head. "Night Bumblebee. I love you."

Bumblebee managed to wake up just enough to sleepily mumble, "Love you too Jie Mei," before he sunk back into sleep, drifting off for good.

Aria felt her brother fall asleep, but she stayed where she was. She didn't really want to leave yet, and she was a little afraid that she would disturb him if she moved.

So she closed her eyes, absentmindedly petting her brother's head as all of the fears that had kept her up the last few days slowly ebbed away, leaving her tired and drained.

The adults found them there the next morning, unmoved and fast asleep.

* * *

Aw, sweetness! ::heart:: Baby Mine is just the perfect Bumblebee song to me. There just is no other. And for listening you should play the original version from Disney's Dumbo. It's just perfect.

Review please! And thanks for reading! :)


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